Flextime and Telecommuting Benefits Transform the Workplace

Making a Business for More Flexible Schedules and Remote Work Options

It is estimated that nearly 3.7 million employees now work from home at least part time, an increase of 103 percent since 2005. (Source: GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com) Millions more work in positions that could easily lend themselves to flextime and telecommuting at least a couple days a week.

Experts have long predicted that the emergence of mobile technology would have a major impact on the way people work. Even in brick-and-mortar workplaces, studies have shown that employees still spend up to five hours a day on their mobile smart phones. This is a lot of texting and surfing the Internet and collaborating using mobile technology, in the office and on the go.

It’s no wonder that the workplace as we know it is transforming. To keep up with these trends and employee preferences, smart employers have begun to offer a lot more flextime and telecommuting. Why are these benefits critical to the success of organizations? Let’s examine this a little more.

The business atmosphere has gone completely global now.

This is because companies started to expand globally, meaning teams are no longer always sitting in the same office, or even the same state or country at times. It’s easy to understand how the need to work outside of normal work hours to accommodate team members in other time zones would demand more flexibility in scheduling. So too, traveling employees can take their work on the road with them to improve their productivity levels, and companies can safely outsource tasks to contractors in other regions.

Telecommuting and flextime appeals to younger, more technically savvy generation of workers.

If your company hopes to attract and recruit the freshest talent, then an employee benefit package that allows for flexible schedules and remote work options is a major boon. Millennials, who now make up the single largest population of workers (just behind Baby Boomers who are leaving in droves) are more inclined towards working looser schedules that allow them to focus on work when they want to, and prioritize their personal commitments the rest of the time. By the year 2025, 75 percent of the US workforce will be made up of Millennials, and this means, “They want more flexibility and versatility," according to Evelyn Fiskaa, Director of career development at Dominican College in New York.

A new value in the workplace is more work life balance, with flextime and remote work leading the way.

The Workplace Trends 2015 Workplace Flexibility Study revealed that while, “67% of employers feel workers have work-life balance, 45% of employees disagree”. Starting with Generation X and Y, there has been a growing influence of work life balance as a core value of many employees. This has been driven by the need for more workplace wellness and lowering stress levels of employees. Also, there are many employees who are part of the sandwich generation of taking care of ailing Baby Boomer parents while simultaneously raising their own children.

Flexible schedule and telecommuting allow employees to make the most of their time, without sacrificing their careers or personal lives.

The good news is that companies are taking steps to provide employee benefits that honor greater flexibility and the option to work from home as needed. As of the Workplace Trends study, 7 out of 10 HR managers have created flexible work benefits a priority, and 87 percent of organizations have experienced improved employee satisfaction and 71 percent have seen an increase in productivity.